In Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky explores, discusses and compares various different philosophical ideas through many of the main characters, each embodying the essence of a specific philosophy. Two of the main philosophical ideas that Dostoevsky discusses in this novel are Utilitarianism and its sub-philosophy, Hedonism. Utilitarianism attempts to distinguish between the moralities of right and wrong, good and bad. The axiom of this philosophy is the concept that the good is pleasure and the bad is pain. It is defined as the sum of all pleasure that results from an action, minus the suffering of anyone involved in the action. One should make choices that will create as much pleasure for as many people as possible. Hedonism is similar
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Fair hair in little curls, like a lamb’s, full little rosy lips, tiny feet, a charmer!... (Part 6 ch 4). The utter repulsiveness of Svidrigailov highlights Dostoevsky’s opinions on hedonism, as does the emotional trauma resulting from Svidrigailov’s lifestyle, which ultimately leads him to kill himself at the end of the novel, “A strange smile contorted his face, a pitiful, sad, weak smile, a smile of despair. The blood, which was already getting dry, smeared his hand” (part 6 ch 5). This quote addresses Svidrigailov’s sudden realization that he cannot keep living with his hedonistic philosophy. Not long after this realization, Svidrigailov ends his life. Dostoevsky makes apparent through this progression of Svidrigailov’s character that humans cannot emotionally handle the moral repercussions of the hedonistic/utilitarian …show more content…
She is compassionate, kind, forgiving, and innocent, despite the hardships that she has to endure in her impoverished life. She is a kind and moral human, and yet she lets herself get trampled under the foot of those who are not so; the fact that she is meek and submissive is the only negative thing about her character from Dostoevsky’s point of view, but these qualities are redeemed by her loving and generous nature, “For that’s Katerina Ivanovna’s character, and when children cry, even from hunger, she falls to beating them at once. At six o’clock I saw Sonia get up, put on her kerchief and her cape, and go out of the room and about nine o’clock she came back. She walked straight up to Katerina Ivanovna and she laid thirty roubles on the table before her in silence” (part 1 ch 2). In this quote Marmeladov explains Sonia’s will to survive and her generosity. She goes against all of her beliefs by becoming a prostitute just to help her family. All of the positive aspects of her character are the qualities that the utilitarian philosophy usually lacks and all of the ones that help Raskolnikov to confess his crime and take the suffering that the confession results in. he sees how sweet and vulnerable she is and it seem s to touch some aspect of himself that he had all along been denying when trying to transform into a utilitarian: He looked at Sonia and felt how great
Fair hair in little curls, like a lamb’s, full little rosy lips, tiny feet, a charmer!... (Part 6 ch 4). The utter repulsiveness of Svidrigailov highlights Dostoevsky’s opinions on hedonism, as does the emotional trauma resulting from Svidrigailov’s lifestyle, which ultimately leads him to kill himself at the end of the novel, “A strange smile contorted his face, a pitiful, sad, weak smile, a smile of despair. The blood, which was already getting dry, smeared his hand” (part 6 ch 5). This quote addresses Svidrigailov’s sudden realization that he cannot keep living with his hedonistic philosophy. Not long after this realization, Svidrigailov ends his life. Dostoevsky makes apparent through this progression of Svidrigailov’s character that humans cannot emotionally handle the moral repercussions of the hedonistic/utilitarian …show more content…
She is compassionate, kind, forgiving, and innocent, despite the hardships that she has to endure in her impoverished life. She is a kind and moral human, and yet she lets herself get trampled under the foot of those who are not so; the fact that she is meek and submissive is the only negative thing about her character from Dostoevsky’s point of view, but these qualities are redeemed by her loving and generous nature, “For that’s Katerina Ivanovna’s character, and when children cry, even from hunger, she falls to beating them at once. At six o’clock I saw Sonia get up, put on her kerchief and her cape, and go out of the room and about nine o’clock she came back. She walked straight up to Katerina Ivanovna and she laid thirty roubles on the table before her in silence” (part 1 ch 2). In this quote Marmeladov explains Sonia’s will to survive and her generosity. She goes against all of her beliefs by becoming a prostitute just to help her family. All of the positive aspects of her character are the qualities that the utilitarian philosophy usually lacks and all of the ones that help Raskolnikov to confess his crime and take the suffering that the confession results in. he sees how sweet and vulnerable she is and it seem s to touch some aspect of himself that he had all along been denying when trying to transform into a utilitarian: He looked at Sonia and felt how great